New orders for manufactured durable goods in March dropped 4.2% from February to $202.6 billion. New orders have been up and down the past three months, up 1.9% in February in between two declines. Excluding transportation, new orders dropped a slightly better 1.1% as transportation equipment had the largest decrease of 12.5%.

Shipments of durable goods in March have been up 3 of the 4 last months and increased 1% in March after a slight 0.3% drop in February. Machinery reported the largest increase of 6.5% after a 3.1% increase in February, reaching a record level high for March.

Unfilled orders for durable goods, up 23 of 24 months, were up again slightly after a previous 1.2% increase in February. Inventories of durable goods increased for the 27th month, up 0.4% to reach a record level high. Transportation equipment also reached a record-level high after increasing for 27 months, up 0.7% in March.

Nondefense new orders for capital goods dropped double digits in March (-10.5%) while shipments gained 2%. Unfilled orders and inventories both reported monthly gains.

Defense new orders for capital goods increased 10.3% along with shipments gaining 8.5% in March. Unfilled orders gained 0.2% while inventories dropped 2.2%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau